Revealed: Ex-GOP sen 'directed millions' in contracts and jobs for allies during stint as UF president
12 August 2024
After leaving Congress, conservative former Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) moved south and spent 17 months as president of the University of Florida. Sasse announced his resignation from that position on July 18, citing his wife's health problems. And his last day was July 31.
Journalist Garrett Shanley examines Sasse's stint as UF president in an article published by the Independent Florida Alligator (UF's student newspaper) on August 12, reporting that spending "ballooned" to "$17.3 million — a major increase from $5.6 million under former UF President Ken Fuchs."
"A majority of the spending surge was driven by lucrative contracts with big-name consulting firms and high-salaried, remote positions for Sasse’s former U.S. Senate staff and Republican officials," Shanley reports. "Sasse's consulting contracts have been kept largely under wraps, leaving the public in the dark about what the contracted firms did to earn their fees."
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Shanley adds, "The university also declined to clarify specific duties carried out by Sasse's ex-Senate staff, several of whom were salaried as presidential advisers."
Shanley notes that when Sasse became UF president, he promised to distance himself from partisan politics — yet "tripled his office's spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies."
"Under Sasse's administration," Shanley explains, "two of his former Senate staffers — Raymond Sass and James Wegmann — were among the highest-ranking and highest-paid officials at UF. Both worked remotely from the D.C. area, roughly 800 miles from UF's main campus in Gainesville."
The reporter adds, "Sass, Sasses former Senate chief of staff, was UF's vice president for innovation and partnerships — a position which didn't exist under previous administrations. His starting salary at UF was $396,000, more than double the $181,677 he made on Capitol Hill."
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Read the Independent Florida Alligator's full report at this link.